Common Name
River Goby
Year Described
Lichtenstein, 1822
Identification
Dorsal Fin: IV-VII, I, 9-11
Anal Fin: I, 9-11
Pectoral Fin: 14-16
Pelvic Fin: I, 5
Scales: 53-63 (lateral rows)
Head large with fleshy cheeks and a smallish eye. Mouth size dimorphic (larger in males). Clavicular area under gill cover with prominent fleshy projections directed anteriorly. Two cephalic pores in the interorbital region. Five pores running from behind orbit to behind upper opercular flap (subgenus Chonophorus). Vomer without teeth. Head, cheeks, and pectoral base scaleless. Body fully scaled. There are 26-40 predorsal scales. Median fins not confluent with caudal fin.
Color
Body whitish to cream with several dark brown irregular blotches on the lateral midline. Many dark brown blotches on the dorsum and head. Two lines radiate from anterior of orbit to upper jaw. Dorsal fins with many brown spots centered on rays. Caudal fin with vertical spot-bands. Rest of fins pale and unmarked.
Size
Maximum size to 16.3cm SL.
Habitat
Adults found in freshwater or slightly brackish estuarine waters. Juveniles and young can be caught in pure seawater or brackish water.
Range
Known from coastal Brazil from the Amazon delta to the southeastern coast.
References
Lasso-Alcalá, O.M. & C.A. Lasso. 2008. Revisión taxonómica del género Awaous Valenciennes 1837 (Pisces: Perciformes, Gobiidae) en Venezuela, con notas sobre su distribución y hábitat. Memoria de la Fundación La Salle de Ciencias Naturales, 67,168, [for 2007], 117–114.
Watson, R.E. 1996. Revision of the subgenus Awaous (Chonophorus) (Teleostei: Gobiidae). Ichthyol. Explor. Freshwat. 7(1):1-18.
Other Notes
Records of this species north of Brazil refer to Awaous banana.